Tap anything on the table. Every piece tells you what it is and when it’s yours.
Plates
Bowls and cups
Cutlery
Glasses
Linen
Also on the table
Customs
Itadakimasu, gochisōsama
Say “itadakimasu” (roughly, “I gratefully receive this meal”) before the first bite. Say “gochisōsama deshita” when you finish, to thank whoever fed you. Source
Two chopstick taboos
Never stand chopsticks upright in rice, and never pass food from your chopsticks to someone else’s. Both echo funeral rites; these two are the serious ones. Source
Lift the bowl
Picking up your rice or soup bowl and bringing it toward your mouth is correct. Large plates and shared dishes stay on the table. Source
Slurp your noodles
With soba, udon or ramen, slurping is normal and even said to bring out the flavor. No one will look twice. Source
Pour for others
In company, fill your neighbors’ cups and let them fill yours, and wait for kanpai (the toast) before your first sip. Source
At the sushi counter
Eat nigiri by hand or with chopsticks, in one bite. Ginger is a palate cleanser between pieces, and the chef has usually seasoned each piece with wasabi, so taste before adding any. Source
Other · Under everything, in front of you
Tray (oshiki)
A tray that holds one person’s whole meal at once.
- When
- Set down in front of you with every dish already on it.
- How
- Leave it where it is and eat from the dishes on it, moving between them as you like.
- Why
- Rice, soup and a few small dishes arrive together, each in its set place.
Source: Nippon.com, Ichijū Sansai: The Standard Elements of a Typical Japanese Meal
Plate · Back right of the tray
Main dish
The main plate, often fish, sits at the back on the right.
- When
- Throughout the meal, in turns with rice and the other dishes.
- How
- Take a bite, then some rice, then something else, rather than finishing one dish at a time.
- Why
- Alternating lets each flavor mix with plain rice in your mouth, which is how the meal is meant to be eaten.
Source: Nippon.com, Ichijū Sansai: The Standard Elements of a Typical Japanese Meal
Bowl · Back left of the tray
Side dish (kobachi)
A small bowl of vegetables at the back on the left.
- When
- Throughout the meal.
- How
- Eat from it in turn with the rice, soup and main dish, a bite at a time.
- Why
- The classic meal is ichijū sansai, “one soup, three dishes”: a main and two vegetable sides, plus rice.
Source: Nippon.com, Ichijū Sansai: The Standard Elements of a Typical Japanese Meal
Bowl · Back center of the tray
Pickles (tsukemono)
A few pickled vegetables to eat with your rice.
- When
- Alongside the rice.
- How
- Take a piece at a time with your chopsticks and eat it with a bite of rice.
- Why
- Pickles count as a relish for the rice, not one of the three dishes.
Source: Nippon.com, Ichijū Sansai: The Standard Elements of a Typical Japanese Meal
Bowl · Front left of the tray
Rice bowl (chawan)
Rice sits front left. Pick the bowl up to eat from it.
- When
- Throughout the meal, between bites of everything else.
- How
- Lift it with your right hand, hold it in your left, then take up your chopsticks with your right.
- Why
- It sits on the left so it’s easy to lift and set down, and holding it while you eat is correct here.
Source: Nippon.com, Ichijū Sansai: The Standard Elements of a Typical Japanese Meal
Bowl · Front right of the tray
Miso soup bowl (owan)
Soup sits front right. No spoon: you drink from the bowl.
- When
- A good first sip, then throughout the meal.
- How
- Stir it gently with your chopsticks, lift the bowl in both hands and sip from the rim. Eat the solids with chopsticks.
- Why
- Soup goes on the right, where a spill is least likely.
Source: Nippon.com, Ichijū Sansai: The Standard Elements of a Typical Japanese Meal
Linen · Left of the tray
Hand towel (oshibori)
A damp towel for your hands, set down when you sit.
- When
- As soon as you sit down.
- How
- Wipe your hands, then set it neatly to one side. It’s for your hands, not your face.
- Why
- It’s part of the welcome: you start the meal with clean hands.
Source: GO TOKYO Gourmet, From Door to Leaving: How Dining Out in Tokyo Flows
Other · Front left, under the chopstick tips
Chopstick rest (hashioki)
A small rest that keeps your chopstick tips off the table.
- When
- Every time you put your chopsticks down, and when you finish.
- How
- Lay the chopsticks on it, tips to the left. Don’t rest them across the top of a bowl instead.
- Why
- Bridging a bowl with your chopsticks is a small faux pas; the rest is where they belong.
Source: Nippon.com, A Japanese Glossary of Chopsticks Faux Pas
Cutlery · Across the front of the tray
Chopsticks (hashi)
Lying across the front, tips pointing left. Your only utensil.
- When
- The whole meal.
- How
- Put them on the rest between bites. Never stand them upright in rice, and never pass food from your chopsticks to someone else’s.
- Why
- Both of those gestures belong to Buddhist funeral rites, so they jar at a meal.
Source: Nippon.com, A Japanese Glossary of Chopsticks Faux Pas
Plate · Right of the tray
Soy sauce dish
A tiny dish for soy sauce. Use just a touch.
- When
- For sushi and sashimi.
- How
- Touch just the fish to the soy, not the rice. If the chef has already seasoned the piece, eat it as it comes.
- Why
- The chef balances each piece; rice soaked in soy upsets that balance and falls apart.
Source: GO TOKYO Gourmet, How to Enjoy Sushi the Tokyo Way
Glass · Right of the tray
Teacup (yunomi)
A tall, handleless cup for green tea.
- When
- Often with the meal, and nearly always at a sushi counter.
- How
- Hold it with both hands, one steadying the base. At conveyor-belt sushi places, the tea is often self-serve.
- Why
- Green tea, called agari at a sushi bar, rinses your palate.
Source: Japan Objects, How to Choose the Perfect Japanese Teacups
Glass · Right of the tray
Sake cup (ochoko)
A small cup for sake. Pour for others; let them pour for you.
- When
- From the first toast, kanpai, onward.
- How
- When someone pours for you, lift the cup off the table in both hands. Wait for kanpai before your first sip. A full cup means no more, thanks.
- Why
- Pouring for each other is a small act of care, so filling your own cup in company can look offhand.
Source: Kanpai Navi, Japanese Sake Etiquette: Pouring, Receiving & Toasting